Hello and welcome to the IWSG blog hop. What is IWSG? Founder of IWSG and authorAlex J Cavanaugh explains the group's purpose is"to share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!" You're invited to become a member of this supportive group.
The group blogs the first Wednesday of every month, The list of bloggers is always available so you can hop around to the author blogs filled with humor, advice, and thought-provoking topics on writing and publishing. You can find the list of participants at Alex's IWSG page.
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The Wise Old Owl
Photo by J.Q. Rose
What Writer has ALL the Answers? by J.Q. Rose
If you look closely, you'll see a wise old owl in this photo I snapped while visiting the Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Homosassa Springs, FL. Located on Florida's Nature Coast,we visited the amazing park last week with our daughter and her family.
I assume the owl is wise. Aren't they all?
I wish I could be wise in writing:
I want to know all the perfect practices for writing a fantastic fiction or non-fiction book that will entertain and inform readers.
I want to know the secrets for getting my books into readers' hands.
I want to crack the code for figuring out amazon algorithms.
I want the key to writing a fool-proof query letter and synopsis.
I hope you know I'm being facetious about writers knowing everything in this crazy publishing industry Even if we did know it all, the industry is a fluid enterprise. Methods become out-of-date sooner than my fresh milk.
The FREE Kindle book was a real hit when amazon introduced the concept. Now with changes, FREE is not the end-all answer to book marketing it once was.
Remember My Space?
Werewolves were once the hot sellers, but not at this time. What's the next big thing?
No, I don't know it all, but I do have a great bunch of folks who are in this crazy business with me also trying to make sense of it. Your support is what keeps me writing.
Thank you.
If you have questions, I may not know all the answers, but I'll be glad to help you if I can, and if not, then we'll figure them out together.
Can you clue us in to changes in the industry we should know about? And since I will soon be publishing a new series on Vegetable Gardening, how DO I get these booklets into the hands of readers??? Please leave a comment. Thank you.
Part 1 in the Vegetable Gardening Series, Starting Your Garden, will be available February 15.
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Come back tomorrow Thursday, Feb 5-- Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing series features Heather Haven with writing tips on "Getting One's Novel Out There." You're invited to join the discussion and enter the drawing for a free ebook of Book Four of the Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, Dead...If Only.
Please come on over to Heather Haven's This and That Blog. I am her guest author today. Heather asks some questions that made me think. I wonder if I revealed too much? What a pleasure to be a guest at Heather's. See ya' there!
Welcome to Heather Haven, author of the Alvarez Family Mystery Series. Her protagonist, Lee Alvarez, shares Uncle Tio's authentic recipe with us. Heather is generously offering a PDF copy of A Wedding to Die For, an EPIC finalist for best mystery of the year 2012. However, she would like it to be a reward for the 'most mysterious' comment. Please leave your comments below, then copy this recipe for your files.
Recipe from a PI: Tio’s Flan de Naranja
Lee Alvarez, protagonist of the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series by Heather Haven, shares one of her uncle’s recipes.
I don’t mean to brag, but as the central character of the humorous Alvarez Family Murder Mystery Series, I get to eat a lot of terrific food. That’s because my Tio is the retired head chef of the world famous Las Mananita’s Restaurant in San Jose, California. During his illustrious career, his recipes were often written up in gourmet food magazines. They’d throw in a few pics, too, because Tio is one classy-looking uncle. I have all the articles and pictures in a scrapbook I started in my early teens. That was before my PI days. I don’t have time to make scrapbooks anymore – I don’t have time to do squat anymore– but I always seem to find time to sit down at the dinner table and scarf down one of his culinary masterpieces!
Tío’s desserts undo me. While he’s creating a recipe, he makes it again and again until it reaches his idea of perfection. Meanwhile, lucky me gets to gobble up every version, as he strives for the ultimate. When Tio was working on his homemade mango and red plum ice cream garnished with fresh spearmint leaves, I must have gained six pounds. Fortunately, I spend a lot of time chasing bad guys over Bay Area rooftops, so I tend to lose the weight as fast as I gain it. I’ll tell you, though; my favorite is his Flan de Naranja. No lie, his flanhas gone down in song and legend. Tio even picks the oranges himself from our backyard. Olé!
Tio’s Flan de Naranja
Serves 4-6:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Ingredients:
5 egg yolks
1 cup white sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1 orange peel
1/2 fluid ounce orange liqueur
2 ounces candied orange peel, grated
Preparation:
In a medium bowl, beat eggs and yolk. Beat in sugar until smooth. Set aside. In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine cream, half-and-half, the vanilla bean and its scrapings, and the peel of one orange. Heat until bubbles form at edges of liquid, reduce heat to low and simmer 15 minutes. Remove orange peel. Beat hot cream into egg mixture, a little at a time, until all is incorporated. Stir in orange liqueur. Pour into 4 to 6 individual custard cups.
Line a roasting pan with a damp kitchen towel. Place cups on towel, inside roasting pan, and place roasting pan on oven rack. Fill roasting pan with boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of the cups.
Bake in preheated oven 45 to 60 minutes, until set. Let cool completely. Sprinkle candied orange peel on top of each cup before serving. Yum!
About the author
Heather is a story teller by nature and loves the written word. In her career, she’s written short stories, novels, comedy acts, plays, television treatments, ad copy, commercials, and even ghost-wrote a book.
One of her first jobs as a writer was given to her by her then agent. It was that of writing a love story for a book published by Bantam called Moments of Love. She had a deadline of one week and then promptly came down with the flu. She wrote “The Sands of Time” with a temperature of 102 and delivered some pretty hot stuff because of it. Later on, she wrote short comedy skits for nightclub acts and ad copy for such places as No Soap Radio, where her love for comedy blossomed. Many of her short stories have been seen in various publications, as well as 2 one-act plays produced in Manhattan, one at the well-known, Playwrights Horizons.
Her novels, Murder is a Family Business and A Wedding to Die For, are the first two books of the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery series. The third in the series, Death Runs in the Family, debuts May 2012. The series is published by MuseItUp Publishing in ebook and print form and can be found at MuseItUp, Amazon, Barnes and Nobel and many Bay Area bookstores. Heather says the series is a joy to write. She gets to be all the characters, including the cat!
Welcome to the Family! And when the Alvarez clan is not is not solving murders, they run Discretionary Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency that normally deals with the theft of intellectual property and computer software.
Murder is a Family Business, A Wedding to Die For, and the soon to be released Death Runs in the Family are part of the humorous mystery series revolving around Lee Alvarez, a combination of Sue Graftonʼs Kinsey Millhone and Janet Evanovitchʼ Stephanie Plum. Completing the Alvarez Family is Leeʼs Never-Had-A-Bad-Hair-Day aristocratic mother, Lila; computer genius brother, Richard; beloved uncle “Tio;” and her energetic orange and white cat, Tugger. These whodunit novels explore familial love -- the good, the bad and the annoying.
“Heather Haven makes a stellar debut in Murder is a Family Business. Highly recommended.” Sheldon Siegel. New York Times Best Selling Author of Perfect Alibi.
“Heather Haven has done it again with the second in the Alvarez series [A Wedding to Die For]. Just when I thought she couldn't best herself, she did.” Ginger Simpson, Dishin’ It Out with Ginger
Please welcome my very special guest, mystery author, Heather Haven. Heather writes a series of books about the delightfully entertaining Alvarez family. Heather pens a variety of personalities in her intriguing mysteries keeping the reader glued to the pages wondering what's next. You'll enjoy reading about her series in her post today with a focus on her "middle child," A Wedding to Die For.
Her first book in the series is Murder is a Family Business, the second or middle child of the series isA Wedding to Die For, and soon to be released third book, Death Runs in the Family from Muse It Up Publishing. Today, Heather is feeling a bit guilty about neglecting her second book. Read on to discover why, then leave a comment to WIN a copy of A Wedding to Die For.........
When the first book of the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery
Series came out last January, I almost threw a ticker-tape parade. The main
protagonist of this humorous series is Lee Alvarez, a combination of Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone
and Janet Evanovitch’ Stephanie Plum.
This 34-year old divorcee works as a private investigator in the family
business, Discretionary
Inquiries, a successful Silicon Valley agency
that normally deals with the theft of computer software. Since the death of
Lee’s father, her beautiful ice-princess mother, Lila, has taken over as CEO
and head of the business. Lee’s younger brother, Richard, is the head of
Research and Information Technology. Her Uncle Tío is a retired head chef of a
well-known Mexican restaurant. Even the new foundling kitten, Tugger, becomes
head of the household in Lee’s small, two-bedroom apartment over the family
garage. Lee isn’t head of squat, thank you. But she’s got the heart of a lion,
eyes the color of twilight, and the instincts of a first-rate PI, which is
good, because she’s always getting herself into trouble.
Ever since the first book came out, I’ve been blogging,
promoting, bragging about, interviewing for, and in general being pretty
obnoxious about Murder is a Family
Business, the fore-runner of the series. At the same time, I was in the
process of writing the 3rd book of the series, Death Runs in the Family. Every writer knows there is nothing as
all-consuming as the current project.
But somewhere along the line, the 2nd book of the
series, A Wedding to Die For, has
fallen by the wayside. It quietly got published April 22nd and came
in, not as a lion, but as a mewing lamb. You could say, this is my middle child.
I’ve read lots of articles proclaiming the middle child is often the one apt to
be overlooked, even by the most caring of mothers. Well, just smack me silly.
How could I do that to my little darling?
I mean, this is such a fun story! It starts out with
troubled upcoming nuptials, due to the groom being arrested for murder. Even
the most Bridezilla of us can’t pull off a wedding without a groom; nobody’s
that good. Enter an ancient, missing statue of a blue dog, a crushed diamond
stud earring, and our gal, Lee Alvarez, is off to the high mountains of Mexico,
amid spectacular views and 16th century cities, in search of
pilfered Mesoamerican artifacts. Throw in a mysterious, gorgeous guy who keeps
popping up in the oddest places, add a couple of dead bodies, toss in a
kidnapping or two, sprinkle it with laughs, and top the whole thing off with
the best tasting tamales ever. That’s the recipe for A Wedding to die For, sitting on the countertop of life waiting for
someone to gobble it up.
I have to face it. I’ve been a neglectful, lacking mother. I’ve
failed my middle child, who never asked to be born in the first place. All it
wants is a little love and attention. Here goes: Who loves ya, baby? Who loves
her widdle A Wedding to Die For, sweetie-pie,
like nobody’s business? Who just wants to hug the words right off your pages? Me,
your mumsie, that’s who.
Whoops! Still not enough?
Okay, I have to try to make it up to the little tyke. Below is an excerpt from the 2nd book, A Wedding to Die For.
Via a random drawing, one person who leaves a comment on this site will get a
FREE pdf copy.
.
I did the same for Murder is a Family Business, and as we all know, what you do for one kid, you gotta do for the other!do for one kid, you gotta do for the other!
Excerpt
Chapter One
I Love to Cry At Weddings
Dragging out a dog-eared, worn
sheet of legal- size yellow paper, I read it carefully. “Wow! I don’t think
there’s much more.” I giggled with relief. “I signed the contract with the two
bands yesterday. One is an eleven-piece mariachi band that our very own Richard
plays guitar with now and then. He’s agreed to play a set with them. I thought
that was a nice touch. The alternating band is a three-piece jazz combo.
Something for everyone.”
“Indeed,” Mom responded.
“Allied Arts is renting us the
restaurant for the reception, including the outside patios, from five-thirty to
eleven-thirty p.m. Do you think ten cases of champagne, plus five cases each of
Chardonnay and a Napa
cab are enough?”
“That sounds more than sufficient.
What else?”
I started counting off items on my
fingers. “Bridal shower, next week. Richard is in charge of the bachelor party.
The tuxes are ordered. The gowns arrive this afternoon, and I have two
seamstresses set up for the fittings. I haven’t seen a picture or rendering of
the designs yet, but I’ll bet they’re incredible. Mr. McFadden designed them
himself, something he hasn’t done for years. He said he chose a ‘theme,’ which
reminds me, I’ll have to get samples of the fabric to the florist. Don’t you
own one or two of Warren McFadden’s dresses?”
“No. I find him a little
avant-garde, Liana,” Mom said.
“I think they call it cutting-edge
now, Mom,” I corrected.
“If you say so.” She smiled and
changed the subject. “Did you find a photographer?”
“Yes, finally. I thought I was
going to have to buy a camera and take pictures, myself.”
“Who is it?”
“Did you know the reason the
wedding got canceled that was supposed to take place at Mem Chu was because the
bride came out of the closet and is now living in San Francisco with her lover,
Charlene?”
“Get to the point, dear.”
“I thought you might be interested
in hearing the lead-in.”
“No.”
“Oh. Well, anyway, this guy was
supposed to be their photographer, so he was available. I’ve seen his
portfolio. He’s good.”
“That sounds fine,” Lila said, somewhat mollified. “What about the rehearsal
dinner? Didn’t John offer to take care of that part of the festivities?”
“Originally, but he had to bow out
due to a heavy work schedule.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Yes,” I said and nothing more. My
latest love had been pulling back big-time on a lot of things, but I didn’t
want to admit it or deal with it yet. “However, Carlos took over and got us a
private room at the new Japanese steakhouse for after we go through our paces.”
I looked at the tattered list again with all the checkmarks indicating
completion and would have done cartwheels around the room if I hadn’t been so
tired.
“Mom, I think I’ve done it. After I
order the flowers and take care of the fittings, I’m done,” I said with pride.
“This wedding is completely done and Good-to-Go.”
Five hours
later, I stood in front of a mirror, enveloped in what felt like eighty yards
of a chartreuse moiré taffeta laughingly called “Whipped Lime.” Between the
starched crinoline underskirt, ruffled hem of the overskirt, and tufted bodice,
all in a hideous yellow-green, I looked like a New Year’s Eve float depicting
baby poo.
I ripped open the other boxes to
find matching gowns in different odious colors sporting the names of “Pineapple
Fizz,” “Mango Madness,” “Orange Frappe,” and “Passion Fruit Frazzle.” Mr.
McFadden had created a theme, all right. Jamba Juice Rejects. And in moiré
taffeta. When Mom called his work avant-garde, she was being kind.
The phone rang, but I was afraid to
move. On top of how I looked, any movement sounded like leaves trapped in a
wind tunnel. No wonder no one wore taffeta anymore, I thought. Noise pollution.
One of the seamstresses answered the phone and slapped it into my frozen hand.
“Hello?” I said.
“Lee, it’s me. We need your help,”
Mira said. Her voice sounded frantic and as if she’d been crying.
“Mira? Are you all right?”
“No, I’m not,” she sobbed. “Carlos
is being arrested for murder.”
“What?” I said, sinking straight to
the floor, buried in a mound of taffeta. “Carlos is being arrested for murder?”
“Yes, they say he murdered the
thief who broke into our apartment last night. They’re taking him away,” she
wailed.
“Wait a minute. What thief? What
murder? Mira, what’s going on?” She tried to tell me, but between the hysteria,
coughing, and wheezing, I couldn’t understand her.
“Never mind,” I interrupted. “Hold
tight. I’ll be right there.” I struggled to my feet and thought, with the groom arrested for murder maybe
this Good-to-Go wedding just Got Up and Went.
Trailer:
You can find the first chapter of book two, A Wedding to Die For, in its
entirety
and book one, Murder
is a Family Business, on Heather's website: http://www.heatherhavenstories.com/
I didn't realize there would be so many questions and fun discussion about the definition of a beach read. I thought everyone knew it would be a fun, entertaining, escape-from-life story to enjoy reading during the relaxing days of summer. (Mmm....I know families with young children don''t exactly have a relaxing summer..LOL).
And now it is time for a shameless plug from me because my mystery/light horror e-book, Sunshine Boulevard, fits the definition of beach read. Okay, you can sigh with relief. I have that plug in and we will move on to more great books for summer reading in the next post.
Please feel free to comment on books you would suggest for a beach read for us! Thank you...or you may get more plugs about Sunshine Boulevard!! :-)
